Cobblepot's Happy Life (Part 2)

Cobblepot is having a bad time lately, or from another perspective, he's doing very well.

Oswald Cobblepot was born into the Cobblepot family, one of the four major Mafia families in the East Side, and his family was relatively well-off during his childhood.

However, when he was young, the pillar of his family, his father, died of pneumonia, and the family fell into decline.

Now, the era of the four major Mafia families in the East District is over, and he and his mother live in a cramped old house on a street near Living Hell.

His father made some money when he was young, Mrs. Cobblepot basically lived off those savings.

As he grew older, the family's expenses gradually increased. Mrs. Cobblepot, relying on her husband's past connections, found little Cobblepot a job in Muni Gang.

The Muni Gang was originally the biggest gang in Living Hell, but now their leader, Fish Mooney, is a grumpy woman who can't go against anyone's wishes. Cobblepot is short and timid, and Fish doesn't like him at all.

As a result, Cobblepot was often sent out to work as a doorman or umbrella boy at other businesses on other streets.

This is no easy job. Being beaten, scolded, and teased by customers is commonplace. Moreover, not only does the money earned have to be handed over to the local gangs, but an additional share has to be given to the Muni Gang. Very little of it ends up in Cobblepot's own hands.

At work, Cobblepot was often humiliated and ridiculed by others. He could only hide to the side with a gloomy face, trying his best not to attract their attention. However, he often angered some customers because of his short stature and lack of strength, and was beaten and scolded by the supervisor. When he returned home, he was always soaked to the bone.

Cobblepot originally thought he would have to endure this for a long time, but to his surprise, Gotham changed almost overnight.

Construction was in full swing everywhere, the whole city was hiring, and every industry was short of workers. Since this change, Cobblepot has worked as a bartender, a janitor, a counter, a waiter, and all sorts of other jobs. When he walked the streets of this Living Hell, people would ask him if he had a job.

Before that, he worked as a waiter at the largest night market near the Living Hell. Although he was called a waiter, he actually assisted at the roadside barbecue stalls, helping to wash the barbecue plates or open beer bottles for customers.

Although this job isn't easy either, it's much better than being a doorman. First, you earn more money, and second, you can often eat leftover scraps from barbecue.

Moreover, the customers are usually drivers, who are often in a hurry. They order a plate of barbecue and a beer, eat and leave without delay, and don't have much time to make things difficult for the waiters. Occasionally, they can even receive a small tip.

Originally, Cobblepot was quite satisfied with this life; at least he had taken a big step forward. But what happened next was even more unexpected.

Later, the transformation of Living Hell began. Although Cobblepot did not live inside Living Hell, he lived nearby and witnessed the transformation of this crowded and dilapidated city.

But then, his entire life rhythm was changed.

Due to the transformation of the Living Hell, many gangs set their sights on this lucrative area. The Muni Gang, unable to fight back, saw more gang forces flood into this poorest region and divide it up, leaving the original Muni Gang with only a small piece of territory in the southernmost part.

After the renovation was completed, the gangsters began to build a management system here, but a problem arose: where were they going to find so many people who could manage the Living Hell?

Although the area has been renovated, it is still a complex and confusing place. Even these outside gang leaders don't understand the terrain, let alone how to collect protection money.

Cobblepot was practically a local; he frequented the Living Hell to buy things, and since he was originally a member of the local Muni Gang, the gang leader took a liking to him, and Cobblepot started working for them.

At first, he was responsible for counting items at the entrance of the cargo channel. However, the foreman in charge of the cargo found that he was good at math and could count items by hand all day without making a mistake. So he introduced him to the commercial district of the Living Hell to collect protection money.

Having previously worked at a night market stall, Cobblepot quickly became acquainted with the boss of a restaurant in the commercial district, and was responsible for delivering ingredients to the restaurant.

Originally, Cobblepot's life had improved considerably by this point; he was at least a minor leader.

Cobblepot was not even an adult yet, but he was in charge of sourcing ingredients for a restaurant. You can imagine how lucrative that must have been, which is unusual even in Gotham.

But that's not all. Cobblepot received a good education in his childhood and even lived in Affluent Area of the South. As a result, he can write neat English characters and is quite talented in mathematics and statistics. He can even do mental arithmetic, which is a rare talent in Gotham!

Not long after, he caught the eye of a big gang leader and was transferred to the water management department of the Living Hell.

The so-called water management department is the place responsible for connecting and maintaining the tap water supply and collecting water fees.

It's called a water fee, but it's actually a protection fee. Once a gang takes over a section of the Living Hell, the residents pay them all the water fees, and then the gang members are responsible for maintaining the water system.

However, the water source of the renovated and rebuilt Living Hell is not like the previous wells. The modern water supply system is very complicated, with a network of water pipes, various pipes and valves, and several types of water meters. The gangsters simply cannot figure out these things.

On one occasion, during the collection of water fees, a conflict broke out between the gang and local residents. It was only after Cobblepot glanced at the water meter reading that a potential shootout was averted.

That's right, in the entire water management department, only Cobblepot knows how to read water meters.

He was thus promoted to head of the water supply system in Zone 2, North of Living Hell.

It may sound absurd, but it's true. Cobblepot's rise to the top was so smooth not because this underage Penguin was so great, but mainly because everyone else was so bad.

Once he became the department head, life was naturally much easier. Cobblepot didn't even have to wander around in that Living Hell himself. He only needed to have someone write down the readings on the water meter, and he could accurately determine how much water a household had used and how much protection money to collect.

However, this didn't last long. The gangsters realized that relying solely on a genius like Cobblepot, who was one in a hundred, to maintain the entire system was not enough.

So they began a vigorous campaign to prepare for the vocational school.

According to Gotham's Second Law, by the time the school site was chosen, the staff was ready, and even the teachers were found, the mob bosses discovered that they had no students.

Gang leaders certainly don't have time to learn these things; they already have enough to manage.

The mid-level members of the gangs were generally clueless, even misspelling their own names. They were all addicted to smoking, drinking, and gambling, and their brains hadn't been functioning properly for years. Sending them to school would be a waste of their time.

Therefore, these gang leaders could only choose from the second generation of gangsters, either the children of some young junior leaders, preferably teenagers, and it was okay if they had some strange hobbies, as long as they didn't ruin their brains by drinking or doing drugs.

Even with such lenient conditions, they still couldn't gather enough students.

With no other option, the gangsters had to cast a wide net, even taking homeless children on the streets if they seemed decent enough to attend school.

Thus, the academically excellent Cobblepot became one of the first students at the vocational school, and from the moment he entered the class, he was the top student, Cobblepot first in his class.

He received a good education in his childhood. Not only did he have beautiful handwriting and excel in mathematics, but he could even play a little violin. In an environment where everyone received prenatal education, he was truly outstanding.

But it's true that he wasn't living a good life.

Although he came here to study, the water system in his area still depends on him for maintenance. Cobblepot studies during the day and works overtime at night. These past few days, he has been living in the office and has not even had a chance to go home.

Although he was no longer as down on his luck as a drowned rat, he had become a ruthless overtime machine.

Cobblepot's recent life can be summed up in one word: busy.

Because the water system in his area was well-maintained and the income was higher than in other places, the gang leader planned to hand over Area 3 to him as well.

Although this gang is a large criminal organization, it is far inferior to the Twelve Families and does not have the ability to hire professionals. The entire system is maintained by Cobblepot alone.

It was the first time Cobblepot had realized that working in an office was no easier than being out in the sun and wind.

But to say he's doing well is indeed true.

Cobblepot now fully understands what it means for knowledge to change Destiny.

Because of his good math skills, he rose through the ranks. He was no longer bullied as a doorman; now he manages more than 20 gang members.

Because Cobblepot doesn't need anyone to do the calculations for him, other people just run errands and get a cut of the water fees collected. Many people love doing this job, and since they rely on Cobblepot to make money, they naturally flatter him.

Cobblepot now has his own little piece of land, and if he saves up a bit more money, he and Mrs. Cobblepot can move out of that gloomy old house and find a nice apartment to live in.

Moreover, most of the teachers invited by the gang were quite troubled by the situation here. They never expected that the students they were going to teach would be like this. In this environment, Cobblepot, who learns quickly and is very focused, seems particularly adorable.

A gloomy appearance? So what? Look at these bastards, anyone with fewer than ten metal rings on their head is considered conservative.

A hooked nose? He's already quite conscious of his appearance by not wearing a string of nose rings.

Short? That's still better than someone who's always jumping around in the classroom with thorns growing on their butt.

The students that teachers like often have the same kind of temperament, and Cobblepot happens to have that temperament.

He appeared somewhat timid and taciturn, which his peers saw as antisocial, but his teachers and professors viewed it as the behavior of a well-behaved and obedient student.

As it turns out, the Penguin, who will be able to secure a place on the Gotham Big Stage in the future and compete with mad geniuses like the Joker, is certainly outstanding. The courses at the vocational school not only did not hinder him, but also gave him a considerable amount of room to develop.

Even Victor looked at him differently, calling Cobblepot "lettuce in a carrot patch".

Hearing Victor's assessment, Schiller was both amused and exasperated. He found it difficult to describe the strange feeling someone who had read the original comics had when Mr. Freeze described the Penguin as a genius.

He didn't know whether it was fate or a mutual appreciation between villains, but in any case, Victor and Cobblepot gradually began to admire each other.

In Victor's eyes, Cobblepot became a studious genius who remained untainted by the mud, while in Cobblepot's eyes, Victor became a good teacher who treated all students equally and did not discriminate against him.

As for Schiller, after he finished that lecture, he dumped all the work of maintaining classroom discipline onto Victor, while he spent his days drinking coffee and slacking off in his office at Gotham University, which infuriated Victor, who called him a sly old fox.

And Cobblepot, of course, did not forget that Schiller was a special guest he had encountered at that time.

Back then, Schiller's words and mannerisms made him quite fond of the professorship, and now, Victor has proven that reading a lot of books really does make a difference.

Cobblepot even considered whether or not to go to college, a thought that seemed absurd to him at the time.

Going to college? That's a very distant dream for every low-income person in Gotham.

But the thing this future Penguin has in abundance is ambition.

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